About us

KeyGene

KeyGene is a privately owned, innovative molecular genetics Ag Biotech company with a primary focus on the improvement of 6F (Food, Feed, Fiber, Fuel, Flowers and Fun) crops. KeyGene’s passion is a Green Gene Revolution approach to explore and exploit natural genetic variation in vegetable and other 6F crops. KeyGene delivers sustainable responses to the world’s needs for yield stability & quality of vegetable and field crops. It supports its strategic partners with cutting edge breeding technologies and plant-based trait platforms to meet their needs. KeyGene performs strategic and applied research with more than 135 employees from all over the world, with state of the art facilities and equipment. KeyGene has its headquarters in Wageningen, The Netherlands, a subsidiary in Rockville, USA and a Joint Lab with the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences in Shanghai, China.

KeyGene was one of the founding partners of the EU-PEARLS research project, the predecessor of the DRIVE4EU project. As a Work Package leader KeyGene was responsible for the germplasm, breeding and agronomy in the Kazakh dandelion. Within EU-PEARLS KeyGene developed molecular breeding tools, such as genetic and physical maps, DNA markers for rubber biosynthesis genes et cetera, which can be used for the efficient development of better Kazakh dandelion lines in DRIVE4EU.

Role and main tasks within the project:

In the DRIVE4EU demonstration project, KeyGene is Work Package leader in the Work Package for breeding and seed production. The goals for KeyGene are to develop new lines with higher rubber yield and to produce seeds for other Work Packages. KeyGene is also involved in the Workpackage that investigates gene flow between Kazakh dandelions and other dandelion species.

Project Coordination

Dr. Ingrid M. van der Meer

+31 31 74 81 363

Ingrid.vanderMeer@wur.nl

Legal Information

DRIVE4EU has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework
Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 613697.